FERRY-MORSE SEED CO. 
7 
The packet seed business was small, at first. Only about five hundred 
assortments were sent out the first year. The packets were poorly illustrated 
and badly printed, according to present-day standards, but the descriptions al¬ 
ways were accurate and the seeds were of the highest quality. The business grew 
so rapidly that in a few years home gardeners everywhere in the United States 
knew and demanded Ferry’s Seeds. 
The quarters originally occupied by M. T. Gardner & Co. soon became too 
small, and in 1864 the company moved to a larger building on Woodward 
Avenue. This, in turn, proved too small, and in 1885 a large warehouse and 
office building was erected at Brush and Monroe streets. 
Then, on New Year’s Day, 1886, came the great Ferry fire—Detroit’s 
largest fire since the town’s burning in 1805. The warehouse was filled with 
seeds. Once started, the flames quickly became uncontrollable, devouring the 
entire contents of the building. The fire smouldered for more than a month, 
over a million dollars’ worth of seeds being consumed. 
Undismayed, the company rented a skating rink, rushed orders for addi¬ 
tional supplies, and made new seed tests. Not an order had to be canceled. The 
year so disastrously begun ended with more dealer-customers than the year 
before. A larger warehouse was erected on the old site. 
The business continued to grow. As the population of the country increased, 
not only were more packet seed assortments sent out but the bulk seed business 
of the company expanded steadily. The number of gardeners growing vegetables 
for market increased rapidly. The canning industry, with its large acreage of 
vegetables, came into prominence. These industries required large quantities 
of Ferry’s Seeds. 
The acreage in Detroit devoted to trial grounds and stock seed growing 
soon became inadequate. These activities were moved to Pontiac and later to a 
much larger acreage at Oakview, near Rochester, Michigan. More warehouse 
space became necessary. Additional warehouses were built, until finally nineteen 
and one half acres of floor space were used in operation of the business. 
In 1907, D. M. Ferry died, leaving as a monument to his vision and inex¬ 
haustible energy the largest garden seed business in the world. Lem W. Bowen, 
son of C. C. Bowen, one of the original incorporators of the company, succeeded 
to the presidency and continued in this capacity until his death, in 1925. D. M. 
Ferry, Jr., vice-president under Mr. Bowen, then assumed the presidency. 
